Sherwood praises ´world-class´ Lloris

Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood hailed Hugo Lloris as one of the best goalkeepers in the world after Saturday’s 3-1 win over Fulham.

Goals from Paulinho, Harry Kane and Younes Kaboul earned three points for Sherwood’s men at White Hart Lane, but Lloris also played a key role.

The France international made an acrobatic stop to deny Hugo Rodallega at 2-1 and then kept out a late penalty from Fulham goalscorer Steve Sidwell after Kaboul had netted.

Lloris’ future at Tottenham has been the subject of speculation, with reports linking the 27-year-old with a move away from the Premier League.

Yet Sherwood insists Lloris has never asked to leave and is hopeful of retaining the player’s services for next season and beyond.

“(He is a) top-drawer goalie, (a) genuine world-class player,” said Sherwood after the Fulham game.

“(He) gets on with it, doesn’t say a lot but just leads by example and when he’s needed he’s done brilliantly.

“I think a lot of people say ‘I want to play Champions League football and if we don’t qualify for the Champions League I’ll have to look elsewhere’. Hugo’s never, ever said that, I don’t think, and he is genuinely world class.”

Tottenham’s win on Saturday was soured somewhat by comments on Twitter from midfielder Sandro, who reacted to his omission from Sherwood’s matchday squad by revealing he was not injured.

Sherwood, however, maintains he has no problem with the Brazilian.

“He’s a good lad. He’s not being disrespectful to me, I don’t think,” added the Tottenham boss.

“At the moment, I think Nacer Chadli has done well in there (the centre of midfield) and Paulinho has done well in there. I like Sandro’s qualities but at the moment he’s not selected.

“I don’t care about the tweet. He can tweet what he wants. At the end of the day, he will always get an honest opinion from me and he’s right in what he’s tweeting.

“He’s fit to play but he’s not selected because he’s not up to it at the moment ahead of other people.

“That’s not to say against West Ham and Stoke he won’t be, because we might look for different qualities in there, but for today’s game he’s not in the squad because he’s not selected.”